Manufacture of curtains, shades and the like



P. L. NOYEL.

Aug. 15, 1967.

MANUFACTURE OF CURT/QINZ, SHADES ANI'YTHE LIKE Filed Nov. 18, 1964 Paul L. Noyel INVENTOR.

Iflllllll AGENT United States Patent 3,335,762 -MANUFACTURE OF CURTAINS, SHADES AND THE LIKE Paul Louis Noyel, Fourneaux, Loire, France Filed Nov. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 412,119 Claims priority, application France, Nov. 26, 1963, 44,213, Patent 1,387,919 3 Claims. (Cl. 139-384) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Fabric, particularly for curtains, provided near its upper selvedge with a header in the form of a distinctively patterned strip integral with the body of the fabric, the warp threads of the fabric extending in the direction of the header (i.e. horizontally) and including, within the header, a group of adjoining warp threads with longitudinally spaced floating sections which, by their mutual alignment, form tubular elements for the insertion of suspension hooks.

Curtains, shades and the like conventionally include a woven or knitted braid or header serving for suspending such articles on the usual curtain rods, this braid being applied after the manufacture of the curtain or shade by stitching along the upper edge of the latter.

Such braids include furthermore, generally tubular elements for the introduction of the hooks which serve for suspending the curtain to a curtain rod and similarly there are often provided one or more curtain cords which serve for pleating or gathering the curtain.

The laying of such a brand requires therefore the assembling by hand of different parts to be executed, after the fabric has been sold, either by the user or else by the manufacturer who transforms the unfinished fabric into a curtain.

My invention has for its object to cut out such manual operation of assembling the braid or header which is to serve for suspending the curtain. According to my invention, the braid is woven in the direction of the warp together with the main portion or body of the curtain, in other words, together with the fabric proper, and, to this end, the loom making the fabric body is designed so as to produce simultaneously the braid which has a structure different from that of the fabric body and may optionally include tubular elements which are formed in the weaving operation together with the braid and consequently with the main fabric portion, the braid being also optionally provided with one or more curtain cords also incorporated therein during the weaving thereof.

The fabric which is to form such a curtain or shade comprises therefore, according to my invention, when it passes out of the loom, three distinctive parts, to wit:

( l) the selvedges,

(2) the curtain body formed by the main fabric portion,

(3) the braid which extends in the direction of the warp.

This braid may be located in any area selected throughout the width of the fabric. Thus it may be positioned along a selvedge or near the latter or else within the main section of the fabric in a position depending on the final arrangement desired.

Thus, for a curtain suspended through clips, the suspend-ing braid may be located in the immediate proximity of one of the selvedges, whereas for a curtain to be suspended by means of hooks a space of to 20 cm. may separate the braid from the corresponding selvedge so that a strip of fabric having the pattern of the principal portion extends between said selvedge and the braid.

The braid itself is constituted substantially by a woven strip, tubular elements and one or more curtain cords,

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the structure of each of these components being as follows:

Header strip-This part may be woven with conventional patterns such as taffeta, gros de Tours, twill, satin and the like. The breadth and the count of threads forming this strip vary according to whether the fabric appears with a greater or less width on a loom of small or large height.

Hook-engaged tubular elements.-Th.ese elements are formed by transversely aligned floating sections of warp threads which allow inserting the hooks between these warp threads and the woven strip constituting the braid.

Curtain cords.---These cords may be made of veget-able, animal, synthetic or artificial fibers or yarns or else of rubber and, with a view to allowing the drawing of said cords, they may be threaded in an available comb.

The fabric which is to form the curtain or shade material is thus sold to the customer with a breadth corresponding to the height of the curtain or to a multiple of said! height from which the actual curtain may then be ma e.

Ancillary advantages derive from the application of my invention. Thus, in the case where the braid is made with a fiber differing from that of the .main fabric portion and in particular a heat-shrinking elastic fiber, its contractile properties may be utilized for selling curtains in an already pleated condition.

My invention will be readily understood from inspection of the accompanyingdiagrammatic drawing which is given solely by way of example and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a curtain whose header is located at a short distance from the upper selvedge and includes floating warp threads and also two curtain cords;

FIG. 2 illustrates a curtain whose header coincides with the selvedge and includes only one curtain cord serving simultaneously for the pleating of the curtain and for its suspension;

FIG. 3 illustrates a curtain combining the features of the curtains according to FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a detail view of part of the header of FIG. 1, drawn to a larger scale.

In the several views of the accompanying drawing, the direction of the warp threads of the fabric is indicated by the arrow x, this direction x defining thus the width of the curtain. The direction of the weft, i.e. the breadth of the fabric on the loop, is given by the arrow y which corresponds to the height of the curtain.

In all the figures, numeral 1 designates the weave pattern of the main portion of the fabric, i.e. the body of the curtain proper, while numeral 2 designates the braid or header interwoven with the body 1.

In the case illustrated in FIG. 1, the braid 2 is located at a short distance from the adjacent selvedge 3 of the fabric in a zone 1' having the same pattern as body 1. The selvedge 3 is located along the upper edge of the curtain while the opposite selvedge 3w lies along the lower edge of said curtain.

The braid includes tubular elements 4 produced by means of an array of juxtaposed warp threads having 1ongitudinally spaced sections left floating in the weaving process, as best seen in FIG. 4 which also shows the warp and weft threads 7, 8 interwoven in a conventional gauze weave except in the area 4 defined by floating sections of adjoining warp threads; the same is the case for the curtain cords 5 incorporated also with the warp threads during weaving. The tubular elements 4 serve for engagement by conventional suspension hooks while the cords 5 serve for pleating the curtain.

In the case illustrated in FIG. 2, the braid 2 is located along the upper edge of the fabric and forms simultaneously its selvedge. This braid includes merely a single curtain cord 5 having floating sections 5a extending in the direction of the warp. The curtain cord plays in this case a double part, to wit: it ensures on the one hand the pleating of the curtain and on the other hand it serves for the suspension of the curtain through its floating sections 5a.

Lastly, FIG. 3 illustrates a curtain including:

as in the case of FIG. 1, a braid 2 provided with tubular element 4 and with curtain cords 5, on the other hand, within a narrow zone 1 along its selvedge, a relatively heavy cord 6 having floating sections 6a aligned with those constituting the element 4.

The curtain may thus be suspended, according to the type of curtain rod used, either through its sheath-forming elements 4 or through the floating warp threads 6a of its cord 6.

My invention is obviously not limited to the sole embodiment disclosed hereinafter and it covers, in contradistinction, all the modifications thereof falling within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. A fabric for making curtains and the like, comprising a weave of warp threads and weft threads, said weave being subdivided in the direction of its weft threads into a main portion with a given pattern and a header juxtaposed with said main portion, said header extending in a direction parallel to said warp threads and incorporating an array of said warp threads adjoining one another with longitudinally spaced floating sections transversely aligned to form tubular elements engageable by suspension hooks.

2. A fabric as defined in claim 1 wherein said header is spaced from an adjacent edge of said weave by a narrow zone with said given pattern, further comprising a cord extending within said zone in the direction of the warp threads and having floating sections aligned with those forming said tubular elements.

3. A fabric as defined in claim 1 wherein said adjoining warp threads consist of contractile fibers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 330,787 11/1885 Isherwood 139-410 1,686,630 10/1928 Loveman 139-384 2,079,831 5/1937 Bauer et a1. 139389 2,093,187 9/1937 Burke et al 139-387 2,096,197 10/1937 Preston 139384 2,518,301 8/1950 French et al. 139-387 2,888,958 6/1959 Lilley 139-387 2,985,235 5/1961 Landell 348 2,998,829 9/ 1961 Horowitz 139384 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,139,251 5/1961 Germany.

21,241 of 1892 Great Britain. 697,357 9/ 1953 Great Britain. 824,704 12/ 1959 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

J. KEE CHI, Examiner. 

1. A FABRIC FOR MAKING CURTAINS AND THE LIKE, COMPRISING A WEAVE OF WARP THREADS AND WEFT THREADS, SAID WEAVE BEING SUBDIVIDED IN THE DIRECTION OF ITS WEFT THREADS INTO A MAIN PORTION WITH A GIVEN PATTERN AND A HEADER JUXTAPOSED WITH SAID MAIN PORTION, SAID HEADER EXTENDING IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO SAID WARP THREDS AND INCORPORATING AN ARRAY OF SAID WARP THREADS ADJOINING ONE ANOTHER WITH LONGITUDINALLY SPACED FLOATING SECTIONS TRANSVERSELY ALIGNED TO FORM TUBULAR ELEMENTS ENGAGEABLE BY SUSPENSION HOOKS. 